The Betrayal of Lucius Malfoy
by the-booky-bookworm
Summary: Heaven hath no rage like a love to hatred turned. Proud, vengeful, manipulative and beautiful; Narcissa Black will do anything to see Lucius Malfoy suffer as she once did. Even supply the Order of the Phoenix with Death Eater secrets. Yet in a place where allies are enemies and friends are foes, the man she risks her life to betray may be her only hope of salvation...
1. Chapter 1: Narcissa's Escape

**Chapter One: Narcissa's Escape**

"I had a knife," she said. "I know it's a Muggle weapon, but there's just so much pain you can inflict with it." She smiled. "I wanted him to feel pain."

Healer Giles, head of the Mental Health Department at Saint Mungo's, laced his fingers together and leaned forward with his elbows on his desk. "I see," he said. "Carry on."

"At first I wasn't sure how to cut him," she continued. "I wanted to slit his throat, of course, but I didn't want it to be over too quickly. And I wanted him to be able to answer me. He needed a throat for that."

"So what did you do?" Giles enquired.

"I don't know. That's when I woke up."

He made some more notes on his clipboard. The woman in front of him was probably the most high-profile inmate at the asylum, as well as being the one most in need of constant attention. He had a session with her every day. It always started the same way: with her telling him the dream she had had the night before.

"Alright," Giles said finally. "Let's do a routine check-up. Name?"

"Narcissa Black." Her pale grey eyes, as cold and unforgiving as barren rock, glittered with something unidentifiable at that.

"Age?"

"Twenty-four."

"House at Hogwarts?"

"Slytherin."

"What is the seventeenth element in the Periodic Table?"

"Chlorine."

He scribbled something. _Memory excellent as ever. _The girl was blasted brilliant, her IQ level high enough to make her a certifiable genius. Unfortunately she was also a certifiable psychopath.

She hadn't been at the beginning, when she had first arrived here. Giles remembered a time when Narcissa had still been in control of herself with the steely impenetrability all Blacks possessed. Slowly, as her sanity deteriorated, she had lost all that until she was impossible to keep in check.

But that just made her even more dangerous. Because anger fuelled her, anger and hatred and a desire for vengeance. She had the charisma all those who are unhinged have.

Funny, thought Giles, how much she looked like an angel when she knew no master but the devil himself.

"Routine check-up complete," he said. "You're functioning as well as ever. So, what do you want to tell me today?"

"I want to tell you about _him_," she said. He drew in a sharp breath. Beyond the dreams, Narcissa had never spoken a word about _him_, and he wondered what had brought on this sudden openness.

"What exactly about _him_?"

"The first time we met," she said, "I was eleven and he was twelve, in the year above me at Hogwarts." Her voice had acquired the sing-song quality of a dreamer. "I thought he was the best-looking boy I'd ever seen. He's blonde, you know, like me. Only his hair is a darker gold. His eyes are more blue than grey.

"I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't want to go up to him. So Bella went and said, 'My sister thinks you're hot.'" Narcissa laughed. "I was mortified! But he said, 'Tell your sister I think she's hot too,' and I knew from then on we were meant to be."

Giles hummed. Despite his strict professionalism-at-all-times rule, he found himself getting interested. Narcissa was like that; she could have charmed a snake out of biting her when she was in the right frame of mind.

"And everything was perfect. It was, I swear! We got together in fourth year and everyone knew we'd get married some day. They used to tease us. Say we were like an old couple. Those were the golden times, and I would have died happy."

Her eyes settled on him, suddenly piercing, the haze of memory gone. "Then I caught him cheating on me."

Giles stopped breathing. The way she delivered those words was bald. Painful. He could read the hurt and wild fury in every line of her face, but then it smoothed out and she grinned maniacally. Her sharp teeth flashed.

"It turned out darling Lucius had been cheating on me all this time... and not even with the same girl. Everyone knew. Except me. All those times they teased us about being an old married couple, really they'd been laughing behind my back, and that was when I realised that I was all alone. I had to take matters into my own hands.

"I let Lucius think I was heartbroken when really I was just angry. It was the hardest week of my life, pretending I'd lost the will to live. I had to go through so much. I was the Lady of Slytherin and then I was nothing more than the poor little oblivious girl. Everyone had turned against me."

Giles knew what had happened next. After all, it was the reason she was in here in the first place. He coughed and realised he had been too engrossed to take notes.

"Right. Thank you, Narcissa. That was very interesting. It's time for lunch and Warwick is waiting outside to escort you to the dining hall." Because she was too dangerous to go anywhere without a guard or two following at all times.

Narcissa got gracefully to her feet. She was a tall woman, made taller by the waterfall of white-blonde hair that cascaded down her back and gleamed in the light. Her regal face structure and distinctively beautiful looks marked her out as one of the infamous Black family.

But it was her eyes that grabbed attention. Her tumultuously stormy grey eyes, needlepoint-sharp and cold as ice. Eyes that had seen things most people never saw - and revelled in it.

Narcissa Black was a psychopath, and however lovely she was Giles knew he had to remember that.

"One more thing, Healer Giles," she said.

"Yes, Narcissa?"

"I actually liked you," she told him, and then she leaned forward and rammed her elbow into his throat.

She felt the soft flesh give way. She hadn't killed him but incapacitated him long enough for her to slide his wand out of his lab coat pocket and finger it. Thornwood and phoenix feather. It would do.

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

She took a moment to ponder the irony of a man being murdered by his own wand. Then she went over to the window, easily bending the bars across it with a spell. The room was five floors up. Narcissa bit her bottom lip.

Her mind was unparalleled and her memory was flawless, but she couldn't recall ever having come across a flying spell. Never mind. A Cushioning Charm would ensure she didn't break any bones. That was what really mattered. She jumped.

For a moment Narcissa experienced a jolt of fear as the ground thundered towards her, but the Cushioning Charm did its work and she felt no pain as she collided with it.

The mental asylum was separate to the main hospital of St Mungo's. This was mostly to protect the sane patients, but also to make it harder to escape. She examined her surroundings. Dank fog lay over the countryside in every direction, the air chilly. The sun was invisible despite it being noon.

She cast her mind back to a map she had glimpsed once, upon her arrival seven years ago.

"_Point me_," she murmured. The wand spun north.

Narcissa set off. The cold did not bother her, although she was wearing nothing more than the plain white robes all the inmates were given. After a while she kicked off her shoes and walked barefoot. The pain when some rocks cut into her soles did not bother her either.

Why would it? She was untouchable, and nothing had truly bothered her for a long, long time. Except for one thing. One man.

As she walked, Narcissa considered her options.

She might have been MIA for seven years, but she still knew things about Lucius Malfoy that the Order of the Phoenix would no doubt love to get their hands on. Perhaps if they asked nicely she could even dredge up information about the other Death Eaters. What to ask for in return?

She wanted to kill him, of course. But she wanted it to be _her_, something long and slow, not a burst of green light from some misguided stooge of Dumbledore's. Would they even let her kill him? Or would it go against whatever pathetic moral code they had?

No matter, she decided. She would go to the Order, and they could hash out the specifics of their agreement there.

~#~#~

Home, sweet home.

Narcissa unlocked the door to Number 13, Grimmauld Place carelessly and bellowed, "Honey, I'm back!"

Sirius Black skidded out of the kitchen. He stopped dead and gaped.

"_Cissy_?"

She knew she looked a sight, but was that any reason to be impolite? She scowled. "I've not seen you in nearly a decade, Sirius. Is that any way to greet me? Shut your mouth, you'll catch flies."

Her matter-of-face tone stunned him into speech. "Look, Cissy - Narcissa - what the hell are you doing here?"

"I live here, stupid," she said impatiently.

"No, you live in a mental asylum!"

"Not anymore. I've escaped," she explained. "I had to kill the Healer with me, but it was a good cause."

"You killed the Healer with you," Sirius repeated. He ran a hand down his face and groaned.

"Look, Cissy. I always did like you best, so I'm going to give you a warning. We're on opposite sides of this war. You chose the Dark Lord like the rest of our family, I chose Dumbledore. The rest of the Order is coming in for a meeting soon and they'll throw you in Azkaban if they catch you here."

"The rest of the Order is coming?" she said eagerly. "Perfect!"

He frowned. "What?"

"Listen here, Sirius," she said exaggeratedly. "I don't give a damn about the Dark Lord, or the rest of our family. Including you. The only reason I'm here is to see justice served, and for that I want to see the Order."

"Justice served. This wouldn't have anything to do with Lucius Malfoy, would it?"

"Stop being a bloody parrot and copying bits of what I say," she snapped. "And yes, it has everything to do with Lucius fucking Malfoy. That clear?"

There was a long pause where she looked furiously into her cousin's eyes, so like hers but with one crucial difference: his were free of the darkness that raged freely deep within her. At last he said lowly, "Nobody expected it, you know."

"Expected what?" she asked. Her anger had gone, in one of her whiplash mood swings, and she was feeling morbidly cheerful.

"That you'd react that way when you found him...cheating on you." He said the last three words in a rush, watching her warily, but she simply laughed.

"Why not? Is a girl not allowed revenge anymore?"

"Yes, but Bellatrix was most people's candidate," he admitted. "You know she'd dismember someone just for looking at her the wrong way. You're so _quiet _nobody thought you'd snap in such a spectacular manner."

"Well, I did," she hissed. All amusement fled from her face. "Now take me somewhere I can clean up before I meet the Order."

He inclined his head, and off they went.

~#~#~

Great things were about to happen. Narcissa could feel it.

She looked at herself in the gilt-edged mirror, running her hands over the silky black robes Sirius had found for her. The colour contrasted well against her vampire-pale skin. She hadn't seen the sun for so long, she'd all but forgotten what it felt like...

Downstairs she could hear a sudden raise of voices. The Order had arrived and Sirius was busy explaining why she was here. Then she would make her entrance. Healer Giles' wand was in her pocket. She'd have to buy one of her own soon. They'd broken her previous one when she was admitted to the asylum.

"Cissy, you can come down now."

Narcissa bit her pale pink lips to inject more colour into them, then made her way slowly down the staircase. The cavernous kitchen flickered with candlelight. She could see them, five of them, sitting around the table: Alastor Moody with his magical eye, James Potter and his Mudblood wife, the werewolf Remus Lupin and of course her dear cousin. Moody pushed to his feet when she entered.

"Alright, Black. What's the deal here?"

"You already know," she responded. "I broke out of St Mungo's because I want to see Lucius Malfoy dead and gone. You can help me do that."

Moody grunted. "So basically, you want us to kill Malfoy for you. Why would we do that?"

"No, no. I want to be the one that kills him," she said. "But I need you to help capture him. After all, he's one of the Dark Lord's most powerful Death Eaters. And that's the reason why you'll help me; the Dark Lord will be a hell of a lot easier to take out if one of his most trusted servants is gone. I might have been locked away since I was seventeen but I'm sure I still have enough information to be useful."

"A trade. Your information in exchange for Malfoy's arrest. Take it or leave it," Moody said.

"Very well, but on one condition. I want to be present at his capture and once you've finished interrogating him I want to kill him," she bargained.

"Well, we were planning to just send him to Azkaban..."

Both his eyes shifted to the other Order members. Narcissa could tell that the pansies didn't like the killing thought, but in a war sometimes you had to go to desperate measures to get what you wanted.

She would know.

"Go outside so we can discuss this," Moody said finally.

She smiled serenely at him and floated out, already knowing that she had won. They were far too desperate to pass her offer up - taking Lucius out would be a great blow to their enemies' defences. Besides, the deal wouldn't really cost them anything. Why save the life of a man who had taken so many of theirs?

There was a low murmur then Sirius called, "You can come back in, Cissy."

She did so. There was a sort of grim resignation on their faces.

"We've discussed this and decided to agree to your terms," Moody said brusquely. "You tell us everything you know, we capture him, squeeze him dry and then you kill him. Sound fair?"

"Perfect," she breathed, her eyes flaring with triumph. She could tell that the warped emotions visible unsettled them, so she beamed widely and giggled like a little girl.

"One more thing. Just to make sure that certain bits of my information are up to date, I want to go scouting tomorrow to Malfoy - "

"No," said Moody at once. "For all we know you're going to warn them about our deal."

She laughed scornfully. "Really, Alastor? I didn't kill one of the only people I liked at St Mungo's just to make a deal with you that sounds like I'm double-crossing them when in fact I'm double-crossing you. _I don't care if the Dark Lord lives or dies as long as Lucius Malfoy is dead by my hand._"

The burly Auror shrank back, disconcerted at the venom in her voice and craziness burning in her irises. No-one could doubt her sincerity. Her sanity maybe, but not her sincerity.

"Fine," he said. "You can have tomorrow to go refresh your memory. Then you come back and report everything to us."

"Fine," she mimicked. Her hand was dwarfed by his when they shook on it, but he marvelled at the repressed power lurking in the frail bones. They released.

Narcissa glanced around at the others. Sirius had his inscrutable look on, the one she had forgotten how to perfect. James Potter was frowning. But Lily was looking at her with pity in her gaze, and Narcissa looked away before she did something she knew she wouldn't regret but would toss the deal out the window.

God. She hated pity. Anger, hatred, sympathy, jealousy, she could understand all and any, but goddamned _pity_ -

"If that's it, we'll be gone," Moody was saying. "Dumbledore will be wanting a report on that Hogsmeade raid three days ago." He stood up, then looked at her with his magical eye. "I guess another Black has joined the fold."

"You misunderstand," she said. "Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, good and evil, right and wrong, they mean nothing to me. If it would help me I would strike a deal with the Death Eaters this very moment." Her laugh tinkled. "I'm not someone to trust, Alastor Moody."

"I never mistook you as one," he said, "but a shared enemy makes common allies."

He Disapparated.

"You know," Narcissa commented to Sirius once James and Lily had gone too, "I kind of like Moody. He's interesting."

Sirius shrugged noncommittally. Then he looked at her.

"One more thing, Cissy."

"Yes?"

"Answer me truthfully. Are you still in love with Lucius Malfoy?"

Narcissa did not blink, gulp, or look away from his gaze. Both her voice and pulse were steady as she said, "No."

Satisfied, Sirius stood and stretched. "I'm going to make some coffee now."

"You do that," Narcissa said.

He seemed to have forgotten that being a psychopath almost always also meant being a compulsive liar.


	2. Chapter 2: Narcissa's Expedition

**AN: Dedicated to .nerd, who is the first person to receive a second dedication! The only reason I can update so quickly is because it's the Easter holidays. Any of you guys doing anything special? xx**

**Chapter Two: Narcissa's Expedition**

Narcissa had lied.

Then again, it was something she usually did.

She didn't need to scout out Malfoy Manor. Why should she? She had a photographic memory. No, what she really wanted was something completely different.

But first, she needed a wand.

"Good to see you again, Ollivander," she said brightly as she pushed the shop door open. The bell tinkled.

"Narcissa Black. You're meant to be in St Mungo's," the man said, briefly looking up from cataloguing a new shipment of wands.

"I escaped," she said simply. She wasn't worried about telling him. Often she wondered if Ollivander was even madder than she was, but whatever the reason she felt certain he wouldn't snitch on her.

Snitch. She'd made a joke. Never mind that she hated Quidditch.

"I suppose you need a new wand. They would have snapped your old one in half, of course," Ollivander said conversationally. "Elmwood and dragon heartstring?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

He dragged over his stepladder. "Very well then. Let's see what we can do..."

He shoved wand after wand at her. Some she rejected on the grounds that they weren't elmwood, the official wood of choice for purebloods. Others she consented to try out but found were missing that familiar spark.

Finally her fingers closed around yew and phoenix feather, and her heart leapt at the same time as sparks shooting out of the tip.

"This is the one," she breathed.

Ollivander nodded in satisfaction. "Interestingly," he said, "yews are believed to be trees that signify death."

"Really? It'll be perfect for what I have in mind then," she said with a mirthless smile.

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing. As she left the shop, she took out Giles' wand and broke it in half before dropping it in the rubbish bin.

~#~#~

Narcissa's time at the asylum had taught her that where wands fail, Muggle weapons prevail.

After all, she hadn't managed to slit the throat of a man who tried to rape her with a _wand_. No, a knife from the dinner table had done that. A failing of the predominantly pureblood Healers was that they never looked at it from the Muggle perspective. Narcissa's brain was sharper than that, and the knife had found its way into her robes.

Now she had two knives on her person as she walked along Diagon Alley. One was in her right boot, the flat of the blade cool against the back of her foot. The other was secreted within her robes.

Large raindrops began to splatter down from the grey skies above. She pulled the hood of her black cloak over her head, hastening her footsteps. Very few people were out in this weather. The ones that were walked past without giving her a second glance.

Narcissa paused at the entrance to Knockturn Alley, her gaze sweeping its length. One more purchase, then she could make her way to Malfoy Manor for a perfunctory check-up. She strode down the street and entered Borgin and Burke's.

"And what would you like, Madam - bloody hell!"

Borgin choked and froze, staring in shock as Narcissa cast off her hood and tossed out her snowy hair. Her eyes were cold when she looked him up and down.

"Borgin," she greeted.

"M - Miss B - Black," he stammered. "What a... surprise!"

Word of the Blacks' youngest daughter being incarcerated had flown around the wizarding world. Narcissa smirked, pleased at her fame.

"I wish to buy something," she informed him. "You will tell no-one that I have been here, or the repercussions for you will be severe."

He bowed and scraped. "Of course, madam. Of course."

"Good. Leave me."

He bowed once more and walked backwards to the small office that led out from the shop.

Narcissa had no doubt that he was still spying on her, so she wandered around, pretending to be interested in the objects on sale when in fact she knew exactly what he wanted to buy. A faint prickling in her shoulder blades told her that his eyes were still on her.

As if randomly, she stopped in front of the Vanishing Cabinet.

"Borgin?"

He appeared instantly. "Yes, madam?"

"I want this," she told him, indicating the cabinet with a jerk of her head.

He looked doubtful. "But, madam, it is useless unless you know where its mate is, which unfortunately has been lost for many years - "

"Did I want a background of its history?" she interrupted smoothly. "No, I did not. Make it quick."

"I heartily apologise, madam. That'll be, er, two hundred Galleons..."

He trailed off at the hard look she gave him. "But of course, for you, it's fifty," he amended.

"That's more like it," she said. "You'll have fifty Galleons in your Gringotts account by tonight."

She saw his eyes darting around and his throat moving as he gulped, but clearly he did not dare to question this. His evident fear pleased her.

People _should _fear her. And they would, one man in particular.

Unconsciously her narrow pink tongue flicked out to wet her plump, lipstick-reddened lips at the thought of him fearing her.

"Thank you," she said. With a wave of her new wand she dispatched the cabinet to her bedroom at Grimmauld Place. "Remember, if you value your life say nothing of this."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Was that sarcasm, my dear Borgin?"

"What? No!" he gasped. But it was too late.

"_Sectumsepra_!"

He yowled as wide gashes appeared on his forehead and cheeks. Narcissa viewed her work with satisfaction.

"Just making sure you'll hold your tongue," she said. "Enjoy your day!"

Laughing to herself, she stepped outside the shop and started on her way to Malfoy Manor.

~#~#~

Narcissa felt like a set of scales.

On one side, her hatred for Lucius Malfoy raged so greatly that it threatened to blot out the world and everything in it. On the other, she loved him more than life itself.

Yet paradoxically, if she did not love him so much her fury would not be so immense. A boy she cared nothing for could cheat on her all he liked, and at the end of the day he would find himself castrated while she was none the poorer. But a boy like Lucius Malfoy - one she had given herself heart and soul to, the one who ruled her body and mind - he had cheated on her, and he had shattered her life.

And that made her all the more dangerous, for nothing was worse than an enemy who had nothing left to lose.

Narcissa stared at the imposing structure that was Malfoy Manor. Once she had thought she would be mistress here, wife of he who owned it. Now that dream had gone she assessed it critically.

Nothing had changed in the seven years since she had last seen it. The ivy still climbed up the walls, the stained glass still shone in the windows. A brick wall and charmed iron gate still separated it from the outside wall.

She couldn't go in, of course. She knew better than most what kind of ancient spells guarded the manor. But through the gaps in the iron bars she examined the wild gardens, and tilted her head back to take in the castle-like house.

Reconnaissance over. She should leave now. Yet Narcissa couldn't make herself go, finding herself rooted to the spot with her cloak wrapped tightly around her to ward off the chill in the air. Something was keeping her there. Bitterness? Anger?

"I never thought I'd see you here again, Cissy."

Her first instinct was to whirl around hissing, but she kept composed and turned around slowly.

"I broke out, Antonin," she said calmly. "Don't look so surprised."

Antonin Dolohov twisted his sneering lips into a grin. "So close to Malfoy Manor you stand, yet you do not go in. Why is that?"

He had always irritated her. She was never far from the edge these days, and he was pushing his luck, unaware that talking to her in the same way he used to was harmful for his health. But for the moment she kept her temper leashed.

"You know why. Lucius will have told the gates not to let me in."

"Well done, Cissy. You're smarter than you look," he smirked.

Her hand tightened around her wand.

He leaned against the wall, eyeing her speculatively. "You know, _I _can go in."

"Good for you," she said flatly.

He wasn't put off. "There are a lot of us who resent what Lucius has become. Do you know that now he's in the Dark Lord's favour he treats the rest of like scum, as if he's suddenly become better than us? I'm not the only one who thinks so."

Narcissa narrowed her eyes, unwillingly interested. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'm saying nothing at all," he said. "But remember, we all know what you'd like to do to him. Your little... incident before being sent to St Mungo's proves it."

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked. Her mind spun over a thousand different possibilities, seeing how she could twist every factor to her advantage.

"As a show of good faith, I won't be telling anyone that I've seen you today," he said. "I also won't ask where you're staying, even if it's pretty obvious."

"Very well," she acquiesced. "I'll think about it. I'm assuming you want something in return?"

Something dark passed over Dolohov's face. Narcissa only just caught it before it was gone again and he returned to his customary smirk.

"Lucius has taken something of mine," he said. "I want it back. You know where to find me."

He nodded at her and placed a hand on the gate. It contorted into the face of Cerberus, the magical guardian of the house, and it swung open so he could march through. Before he disappeared down the pathway he turned to look back at her.

She raised one hand in a mocking salute. Then with a swish of her cloak she was gone.

~#~#~

When Narcissa Apparated into Grimmauld Place, she found Sirius waiting for her.

"Cissy," he said. "I trust everything went well?"

"Better than expected," she said. "The layout of the house is still the same, which means I can provide accurate blueprints for the Order."

"Good," he said. "Also, a Vanishing Cabinet appeared in the hall half an hour ago. Did you by any chance have something to do with it?"

"Oh, I bought it off old Borgin," she said dismissively.

Sirius was not fooled. "Tell me the truth, Cissy. Where's its pair, and why have you bought it?"

"It's only a last resort," she said. "Just in case the Order fail to infiltrate Malfoy Manor successfully."

"_Cissy_," he said impatiently.

"Alright, alright!" she said, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender that was no surrender at all. "The other Vanishing Cabinet is in bedroom of Lucius Malfoy."

Sirius stared. "How do you know?"

She gave him an are-you-serious look. "Why wouldn't I know? Need I remind you how many times I've been there?"

"Okay, I believe you," he said. "But why do you need to give the Order blueprints to the House, if there's this cabinet?"

He never saw it coming. In two strides she was in front of him, pressing him to the wall, her eyes spitting fury and a knife at his throat. He gasped and spluttered.

"_Cissy - _"

"Do. Not. Question. Me," she hissed. "Is that clear, boy?"

He was only nineteen, after all, and she had seen and done things he could only dream about. Sirius managed to telegraph his submission to her. She dropped him like he had burned her.

"Excellent," she said, already turning her back on him. "Now make me some lunch. I'm _starving_."


	3. Chapter 3: Narcissa's Meetings

**AN: Confession time: I don't know how long this is going to be, so don't be mad! It's just a distracion from HAH**

**Chapter Three: Narcissa's Meeting**

Narcissa had been in Azkaban, once.

It had been three years ago after she had murdered that man who couldn't keep his hands to himself. An outraged Wizengamot had called for her immediate imprisonment, and there she had been thrown.

She smiled fondly at the memories. Azkaban was designed to make a person constantly relive their worst moments and go slowly mad from guilt. Of course, she was already mad and since in her mind her actions were justified, Azkaban had absolutely no effect on her.

One month later they had taken her out, looking better than she had when she went in.

Narcissa sipped delicately from a cup of tea. She was aware of all the eyes fixed on her, Alastor Moody's in particular. Something told her the man was extremely good at predicting people's actions.

But she was a psychopath, and therefore unpredictable, although it did mean she would have flaws in her logic an ordinary person would not.

"Alright," Moody said. "What happened yesterday?"

She shrugged, sticking her littlest finger out like a lady. "I went to Diagon Alley. Got myself a new wand. Scoped out Malfoy Manor - nothing's changed, which means I can draw you a set of blueprints."

"It's been seven years," Moody said sceptically. "I doubt you can remember every nook and cranny."

"I have a photographic memory, and his house was like my own," she said with a trace of impatience.

He looked at her cousin. "Is that right?"

"We practically grew up with the Malfoys," Sirius said briefly. He slid her a look, and added maliciously, "Everyone thought Cissy and Lucius would get married. Especially her."

The Order sucked in breaths as they prepared to cast Shield Charms, but once again she threw them off by laughing merrily. "Just as well we didn't, eh? As you can see, my information is perfectly faultless."

Moody accepted it. "Anything else?"

"No," she said easily. "Nothing." She felt Sirius' eyes burning a hole in the side of her head, but was relieved to see that he had the good sense to keep his mouth shut about her purchase. She didn't want to kill the only remaining member of her family she was still on speaking terms with.

Unbidden, a memory of Bellatrix's streaming dark locks and haughtily beautiful face rose before her eyes.

"In that case, get some parchment and a quill," Moody said. "We'll want the blueprints as soon as possible, so we can plan our mission."

Narcissa waved her wand and conjured the necessary materials. "This may take some time," she said as she bent over the parchment. "Malfoy Manor is a large place, as I'm sure you know."

Her arm stretched out. She sketched planes, lines and angles elegantly, labelling each individual room and assigning letters to the separate wings. As she drew her mind disconnected from her body and she considered.

Antonin Dolohov's proposal could be put to good use. No doubt Moody would favour something low-key, a small team (including her) who would sneak through the house and ambush Lucius Malfoy.

She already knew that nothing short of an army could bring him down. She hated Lucius, yes, but there was no denying his power. It was both vocal as well as magical - he was just as charismatic as she was, gifted with powers of persuasion. If any of Antonin's Death Eaters came into contact with him there was a high chance he could sway them to his side.

That was the problem with traitors. The wills of those who betrayed were always weaker than those of the faithful, which meant that the renegade Death Eaters would be more susceptible to Lucius than the Order. Hmm. She'd have to ensure that the Death Eaters didn't come across either of them. She would have to plot a whole different path for them...

"Finished," she said.

Moody took the parchment from her and examined it, his eyes running over the angular ink lines. He scratched his jaw.

"Not lacking for room, are they?"

"Of course not," Narcissa said. "That's _Malfoy_ _Manor_." The two words dripped with a curious mixture of condescension and longing.

Moody rolled the parchment into a scroll and stuffed it into his cloak. "Assuming you aren't pulling the wool over our eyes," he said gruffly, "the basement seems to be the easiest point of entry. So if we outfit a small team - "

He broke off at twin peals of laughter, coming from Narcissa - and, funnily enough - Sirius. "What is it?"

"The basement of the manor is the most difficult to penetrate," she explained, still chuckling. "It might not look like it but the walls are charmed straight through their five inches of stone."

"There's no way in hell we're getting in through there," Sirius said. He and his cousin exchanged a single look, bonded for that fleeting moment by their joint knowledge, then looked away just as quickly.

Moody tried to appear unaffected. "In that case, I'll take this away with me and study it tonight. Be ready tomorrow to hear the plan."

"Remember that I have to be there," Narcissa murmured.

His expression soured. "People like _you _might go back on their word, but we don't."

"On the contrary," she said lazily, "I have never broken a promise in my life. How many of you can say the same?" She smirked, looking around the table, then slid her chair out and stood up.

"Are we done here?"

"Why? Got somewhere to go?" Moody asked suspiciously.

She rolled her eyes, even though his suspicion was well-founded. "Actually, I have to take a shower now."

"We have to go now anyway," he said. "Same time, same place tomorrow." With an ear-splitting crack he was gone, quickly followed by the rest of the Order.

Sirius approached her though he kept at a safe distance. "You're not going to take a shower, Cissy," he said. "You had one this morning. Where are you really going?"

"Do we need to have a repeat of yesterday? _It's none of your business_."

"I'm not going to let my friends walk into a trap," he said determinedly.

"Whatever happened to blood is thicker than water?" Narcissa's tone was flippant, but a pang of something like jealousy twisted at her heart. He truly cared about his friends. Any fool could see that. And hers...

Well, at least _they _had gotten what they deserved, and Lucius Malfoy was about to go the same way.

Like she did whenever an emotion she didn't like hit her Narcissa strengthened herself by refocusing on her goal. She'd been waiting seven years for this, and nothing was going to stop her.

_Nothing_.

~#~#~

"I had a feeling you'd come," Antonin Dolohov said to Narcissa Malfoy.

She sipped at her Firewhiskey, grimacing at the burning taste. "I decided extra backup would be nice. And did we really have to meet here?"

Together, they surveyed their less-than-savoury surroundings of the Hog's Head. Dolohov nodded.

"People here don't ask questions and mind their own business. It's the spot where everything illegal takes place... like planning to infiltrate a Death Eater's mansion."

She took another gulp. "I assume you've worked out who I'm working with now?"

"I have my theories," he said carefully. "But I don't want to know. It's safer that way."

"As if I would have told you," she scoffed. "In any case, we have to work around some difficulties whilst ironing our plan out."

"And those are?"

"You know as well as I do that Lucius' powers of persuasion are legendary," Narcissa said. "Your Death Eaters - how many are there, anyway? - cannot be allowed to see him. No doubt he'll urge them to join him. They will accept."

"Five. And I see your point," Dolohov said thoughtfully. "Mercer's Law, isn't it? That the natural strength of will of a person is weakened by betrayal, thus making them susceptible to other people's suggestions, even if it means joining the ones they originally betrayed."

"So you were listening all that time in History of Magic after all," she said with some surprise.

He grinned. "I didn't spend _all _my time in Hogwarts torturing Gryffindors, you know."

Narcissa laughed with him but quickly became serious. "This works to my - our - advantage. Since you can enter Malfoy Manor without suspicion, perhaps you could find some way for us to enter without drawing attention?"

He considered. "The boys and I can set up a Charmless Circle in the grounds," he said.

She frowned. "I know all the spells there are to be known, but I haven't heard of that."

"It's quite oscure," he said. "A Charmless Circle is a small area where people can Apparate into even if everything else has been spelled against Apparition, but only if a person who was already on the inside has set it up. Remember in sixth year when we could Apparate in the Hall only? That's because Dumbledore set up a Charmless Circle that covered the Hall."

"Ah," she breathed. "Good. You and your... boys set up the Charmless Circle, we Apparate into it, then you make yourselves scarce."

"No," he said immediately. "I want to be there for the capture."

"Not a chance in hell," she said. "I don't want my helpers to find out about you if I can avoid it."

His eyes darkened. "I told you, Malfoy stole something of mine. I want to make him pay for it."

"Then be there for the torturing," she suggested brightly. "Besides, what exactly of yours did he steal?"

He hesitated. She narrowed her eyes, scrutinising him. He looked embarrassed. But not for himself...

For _her_.

"What?" she demanded. "What is it? Tell me, damn you!"

He exhaled shakily. "Okay, okay! He took my girlfriend Moira Parkinson from me, okay?"

Narcissa was wholly unprepared for the sudden jolt of pain that smacked her straight in the heart. She flinched and stared unseeingly at the dirty table.

What had she thought? That after her imprisonment, Lucius would give up girls in memory of her? She snorted bitterly. The whole reason she had gone to St Mungo's in the first place was her ex-boyfriend's inability to keep from chasing skirts. What would make that change in seven years?

Now she knew why Dolohov had been so wary in telling her. Was she that transparent? She couldn't be. She _wasn't_.

Narcissa lifted her head, face wiped clear of emotion. "Right," she said icily. "Admirable. Now that's been settled, I have to go." She scrambled up.

"Wait. So you'll let me stay and help for the torturing?" he pressed.

She smiled at him. "Sure. Why not?"

She Disapparated, and the weight of a thousand lies threatened to drag her under.


	4. Chapter 4: Narcissa's Act

**Chapter Four: Narcissa's Act**

The Dementors had no effect on her.

She hadn't gone mad in Azkaban, for all the Wizengamot had had her thrown in at the earliest possible opportunity. But they had underestimated the Black name. Her grandfather Pollux Black, a greatly influential figure in the Ministry, had announced that no family of his would be left to rot in prison.

He had died before she could thank him, but one month later Narcissa was a free woman - or rather, one locked up in St Mungo's once more.

She slicked on her customary scarlet lipstick to colour her pale lips. Sirius watched her do so, his gaze on the compact mirror she was using. He cleared his throat.

"What?" she said without taking her attention from her actions.

"Moody will be here soon," he said. "I've said nothing to him, but you and I both know that there's no way into Malfoy Manor."

"Leave that to me," Narcissa said. "There will be a way in for us, trust me."

Trusting Narcissa was like trusting a snake not to bite you. Sirius narrowed his eyes, leaning closer to her.

"I've told you, Cissy," he said. "I won't let me friends walk into a trap. If you're planning to hand them all over to You-Know-Who then - "

She cut him off. "I won't lie to you, Sirius. It's true that I've enlisted... _outside help _to get us into Malfoy Manor, but you have my word that none of your friends will be any the worse for it."

"I want an Unbreakable Vow," he said.

"You have my word on my father's grave," she said. "Without a Binder, that's the best I can do right now."

Sirius scrutinised her carefully then nodded. "Very well." He folded his arms.

There was a sudden _crack_, and he jumped as Moody Apparated into the room.

"Good morning, Alastor," Narcissa said cheerfully. "How are you on this fine day?"

"We both know you don't care," Moody said as he dropped into a chair. His body stretched in a yawn.

"You're right, I couldn't care less," she agreed. "What news have you?"

"I was up all night examining this," he said. "As far as I can see, our best bet is to wait until a Death Eater arrives. When the gate opens, we Stun him and enter."

Even before he had finished, Narcissa was shaking her head. "That won't work. The gate is magical - it will stop you."

He sagged. "In that case, you can wave any thoughts of vengeance goodbye."

"Not so," she said easily. "There is one more way. I can arrange for a Charmless Circle to be set up inside the grounds, into which we can Apparate."

Moody's electric blue eye whizzed in its socket as it turned to pierce her. "You've been in contact with Death Eaters, haven't you?" He drew his wand.

She raised her hands. "Let's not be hasty, Alastor. Yes, I've been talking to an old acquaintance of mine, but I assure you that he has as good a grudge against Lucius as I do. He won't sell us out. I guarantee that."

Her voice was soothing, sliding over him like silk. He calmed down.

"How do you know?"

"I gave him a chance to inform his master that I escaped from St Mungo's. He didn't. He also doesn't know who it is I'm working with, and I promise you he won't find out."

Moody knew perfectly well that her promises were worthless, but he also knew that if he wanted any chance of putting Lucius Malfoy behind bars he had to accept what she was saying. He heaved a sigh.

"Very well. One thing: who's this informant?"

"Antonin Dolohov," she said. "If you want, you can have him as well. A stint in Azkaban would do him good."

Moody eyed her warily, reminded of who she truly was when she offered to sell out her allies so easily. It was easy to forget that this angelic-looking young woman was one of the most heartless murderesses in wizarding history. He still had the Daily Prophet snippets about it on his office wall.

_Youngest Daughter of Black family Sent to St Mungo's Asylum_

_Genius Narcissa Black Revealed to be Also Clinically Insane_

_A Woman Scorned: Wizengamot Member Pollux Black's Granddaughter Murders Countless Slytherins - Why, When, How?_

"Well?" Narcissa prompted.

Moody blinked. "Well what?"

"Do you want Dolohov thrown in or not?" she asked. "I don't like him."

"Alright," he decided. "So he sets up a Charmless Circle for us, we go in. We take out Lucius Malfoy and bring him back here. Anything else?"

"One more thing," Sirius said. He had been quiet for all this time, and Narcissa raised a silvery-blonde eyebrow she had inherited from her part-Veela mother.

"Yes?"

"It won't just be Lucius in the manor. His parents Abraxas and Noctia will be there too."

"Hmm, Abraxas and Noctia," she mused. "Abraxas has been bedridden with the dragon pox with many years. And Noctia won't stop us." A sharp-toothed grin. "Not if she knows what's good for her."

"There's also a good possibility that Lucius will have one of the whores that he likes to keep with him," Sirius said.

She hissed, surprising him, since she hadn't shown any feeling about it the last time Lucius had been brought up. Her wand came up in an arc.

"_Flagrant!"_

The tablecloth burst into flames. Moody leapt into action.

"_Aguamenti_!"

The jet of water successfully managed to subdue the flames. Narcissa blew the smoke from the tip of her wand, much like a pistol.

"I had to do that," she said flatly. Of course, she didn't apologise; she never did.

"Al ... alright," Moody muttered. "You arrange things with Dolohov today. Tomorrow night, we go in."

"Fine," Narcissa said without bothering to tell him that she had already sorted things out with him. There was something she needed to do tonight.

~#~#~

The grandfather clock in Grimmauld Place struck a mournful twelve. Narcissa swathed her midnight-black cloak around herself and slipped the hood over her palely gleaming hair.

It was time.

She opened the door to the Vanishing Cabinet, folding her long, willowy boy so that it would fit inside. The back of the cabinet melted away before her fingertips. It only took a second, and then she was straightening, her coldly burning grey eyes roving over the bedroom of Lucius Malfoy.

It was lit by a single candle that drooped on his bedside table. Beside it lay his wand. Lucius himself was a lump under the blankets. Soundlessly, Narcissa moved forward, as if drawn by invisible magnets. She pushed down the covers.

She had not seen him for seven years, and he had grown better-looking with age the same way she had. His lashes were long and dark as they fanned out from his eyelids. His blonde hair, a shade darker than hers, was not tied back with its customary ribbon. His jaw was sharp and his lips were full, and as she looked into his face Narcissa fought not to take her knife and slit his throat there and then.

But she controlled herself. She had waited seven years, she could wait a little longer.

"Wake," she murmured. Her hand brushed tendrils of hair away from his eyes almost tenderly. Then she curled her fingers into claws and scratched them viciously down the length of his face.

He awoke with a gasp. The moment his lids fluttered open she took a step back and threw off her hood. He blinked rapidly, obviously still only semiconscious, his irises a shimmering blend of blue and grey.

"_Cissy_?"

She bent down and pressed a harsh, biting kiss to his lips. It was utterly devoid of warmth. A warning, nothing more, and almost immediately she whirled around to slink back into the Vanishing Cabinet in a corner of his bedroom.

He might think he had dreamed it... and would, until he realised that his wand was gone.


	5. Chapter 5: Narcissa's Entrance

**AN: I know it's hopelessly late, but to be honest HAH is my first priority. That being said I will work on the Taming next. Dedicated to CissyBlack.M, who gave me my first ever review in another language -SPanish maybe? Thank you! As always, enjoy xx**

**Chapter Four: Narcissa's Entrance**

Naturally, Narcissa had gifted Lucius Malfoy with her virginity.

She had been fifteen years old. A tad young, perhaps, but she was in love and what more was there to it? At the time she had thought that he was a virgin too. Only later would she find out the truth.

Some girls might have been heartbroken at giving their hymens to a boy like him. Not her. She had been consumed by a fury that stemmed from the fact that he had lied to her about yet another thing. It had been the final nail in her coffin.

The next week, she was in St Mungo's.

"Remember, in and out as quickly as possible," Moody repeated for the tenth time. "Stun any Death Eaters you come across. Try not to kill if possible - "

"No," Narcissa cut him off. "Kill them. Otherwise, they'll try to kill you."

He hesitated, then shrugged. "Do whatever best fits the situation. We'll grab Malfoy, then go. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Sirius said. He gave her an unreadable look. She ignored it, fastening her silky black cloak around her with a serpent-shaped silver brooch. Narcissa knew what she looked like: all long pale hair and long black cloak and steel grey eyes. The only splash of colour on her was he blood-red lips.

They counted to three and Disapparated together. Antonin Dolohov was waiting for them inside the Charmless Circle. He strode forward and caught her arm to stop her stumbling.

"Cissy - "

"Do it," she said, nodding at Remus Lupin. The werewolf Stunned the Death Eater then Disapparated away with him as they had agreed. Dolohov would come to with the knowledge that he had been betrayed.

A lesser woman might have felt guilt, but Narcissa felt nothing but the stirrings of a hungry excitement as she gazed up at Malfoy Manor, the towers jagged against the starless night. Soon. So soon she could _taste _her victory, like spices in the air.

"This way," she said, weaving in between the bushes to the main building. Around her she heard a faint crackling as they all cast Disillusionment Charms upon themselves. All except James Potter who silently shrugged under his Invisibility Cloak.

The imposing doors were large and wooden. Unimpressed by their ornate carvings, Narcissa took out her wand and made a slashing motion. Blood splattered from a sudden gash on her arm onto the oak. Malfoy Manor liked those who entered to weaken themselves, a philosophy no doubt copied directly from the Dark Lord himself, she thought contemptuously. But pain meant nothing to one like her. Weakness, even less.

Her blood hissed. The lines on the doors glowed, then they swung open, smooth and silent. She stepped in.

It was like taking a trip back in time. The hallway with the slumbering portraits of long-dead Malfoys stretched away from her, eerie in the darkness. She forgot the presence of the Order as she floated along it. Her heart pounded almost viciously fast; she was here, it was happening, seven years in the making.

Payback.

Suddenly a crash shook the house. Dust fell from the ceiling, the portrait of Lucinda Malfoy running screaming into her neighbour Joseph Malfoy's frame. He awoke with a yell.

"It's begun," Narcissa muttered in the general direction of a still-invisible Moody. She picked up her pace, almost running down the hallway in her eagerness. It was not difficult to work out where the action was happening.

A group of black-cloaked figures had congregated in front of a door, shooting hexes at it. Dolohov's Death Eaters. They turned to look at her. One of them pulled away his hood.

"Narcissa?"

Igor Karkaroff squinted at her, seeing nothing but a tall, beautiful young woman with deranged eyes and white-blonde hair. She smiled beatifically at him.

"Karkaroff. How goes it?"

"The bastard's barricaded himself inside his sitting room," he admitted. "We don't know why he hasn't started throwing Killing Curses at us yet."

She knew: it was because his wand was currently stashed safely at Grimmauld Place. But she merely nodded thoughtfully. "How have you tried to get it open?"

"With everything. Blasting Jinxes, Fiendfyre, Porringer's Menace, you name it. But that door does nothing but throw them back at us."

Narcissa nodded, having expected something like this. Even without a wand Lucius Malfoy had a trick or two up his sleeve. So she didn't even bother trying her own jinxes on it. Instead, she pushed past them and knelt down at the keyhole.

"An _Alohomora_ won't work," Karkaroff said.

She didn't look at him. "I wasn't going to try one. Now, I want you to stand back, but when I unlock this door swarm inside and immediately do whatever it takes to subdue him. But _don't kill him_. If any one of you ends his life, what I do to him will make Azkaban look like the Kingdom of Heaven. Are we clear?"

"Positive," Karkaroff said dutifully. "Where's Dolohov?"

"He's making sure nobody makes a surprise visit to the manor," she lied. "Now, ready yourselves."

Narcissa lifted a hand to the serpent brooch at her throat and unclasped it. Before the Death Eaters' disbelieving eyes she had worked the narrow pin into the keyhole.

"Isn't that a Muggle technique?" Karkaroff asked, half-doubtfully, half-scornfully.

She worked to hide her sneer. Narrow-minded fools. "Yes, it's a Muggle technique, and a damn good one at that. Any objections?"

"Not at all," he said. A wise man.

She heard the click that signified the unlocking of the door, but made no move to open it. Her head cocked to the side as she listened. There was no noise from within.

_Ready or not, Lucius, here I come_.

Narcissa straightened up and let her fingers trail over the silky wood, humming with magic, before she turned the handle and stalked inside.


	6. Chapter 6: Narcissa's Fury

**AN: I know I said that Bella's story would be next, but Cissy here called to me... And Bekah, I'm really sorry I haven't replied yet, but I'm going on a school trip to Germany tomorrow and I'll do all replies and reviews when I return on Friday!**

**Enjoy xx **

**Chapter Six: Narcissa's Triumph**

Empty.

It was empty.

Narcissa scanned the inside of the room in mounting fury, taking in the upturned sofa and gleaming silver ornaments. There was no sign of her prey. Her gut feeling told her that the bird had flown, but she still conducted a hurried search, kicking over tables so vases shattered on the floor and water spilled on the plush carpet. The Death Eaters stayed well back and watched warily.

Igor Karkaroff eventually gathered the courage to speak. "Narcissa..."

"Shut up!" she screamed, wheeling around to face him. "Shut up and let me think!"

He hastily acquiesced. Narcissa looked even wilder than usual, her cheeks flushed with anger and steel eyes blazing. Where could Lucius have gone? There were no windows, and Apparition was impossible -

She caught sight of the spattering of green dust in front of the fireplace, and cursed fluently.

"You!" Narcissa barked, pointing at Yaxley. "You work in the Ministry, don't you?"

"Well, yes," he said reluctantly.

"I need to know the destination of the last person who used Floo powder in this fireplace. _Now_," she said.

Yaxley edged backwards. "I'll see what I can do - "

"I said now!" Narcissa roared. "Tell me where Lucius Malfoy's gone, or so help me I will kill you where you stand!"

The other Death Eaters carefully backed away so that Yaxley was standing in a circle of his own. He swallowed loudly.

"We'd better go to Invidia Crouch then," he said. "She works in the Floo Department, she should be able to help us."

"Good," Narcissa said. "Let's go."

She brushed up some of the powder from the floor and tossed it into the fireplace. The flames raged green. Stepping carefully inside the cramped area, she turned to look at Yaxley expectantly.

"Well?"

She remembered the Order with a start, then dismissed them. They'd be fine. Yaxley, on the other hand, wouldn't be if he continued to stare at her with that gormless expression on his face.

"Get in!" Narcissa snapped. He got in.

~#~#~

The address he gave the fire was 38 Victoria Avenue, a street of nice houses with sprawling gardens and pretty flowers. There was a woman sitting in the living room when they arrived. Narcissa vaguely recognised her dark hair and eyes. Invidia Crouch had been a few years ahead of her at Hogwarts, and one of her sister Bellatrix's friends.

Invidia's eyes widened. "Narcissa? Narcissa Black?"

"That's me," she smirked, brushing the ash off her robes.

"You're in St Mungo's!"

Everyone she had met since escaping seemed to have had a similar reaction, and Narcissa yawned pointedly, already bored. "I obviously can't be if I'm standing right here, can I?"

Yaxley quickly cut in. "Invidia, we need to know. Who was the last person to use the fireplace in Malfoy Manor?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "Malfoy Manor? Why would I tell you that?"

"You'll tell us," Narcissa said, "because I know you value your life, and I really don't have any qualms about killing you. You know what I went in for, don't you?"

Her brown eyes slid away. "I know. We all do. It was splashed on the front pages of every wizarding publication in the world."

"Good," she said lightly. "I won't repeat myself again: who was the last person to use Floo powder in Malfoy Manor, and more specifically, to where?"

"I'll have to use my work card for that," Invidia said. "Log an information request and search it up - "

"Do whatever you need," Narcissa shrugged, waving a dismissive hand. "I don't care as long as I get the answer in three minutes."

Invidia scuttled away. While she waited, she flopped onto one of the sofas, examining the snoring Crouch portraits with apathetic interest. Yaxley hovered by her shoulder.

"You can go," she said without looking at him. His relief palpable, he vanished into the fireplace.

Invidia reappeared a few minutes later. "I've done it," she announced. "Lucius Malfoy, at 11.23 p.m., destination The Leaky Cauldron."

Narcissa hissed in annoyance. The Leaky Cauldron was far too populated for her to go in tonight without even the semblance of a plan. It would require additional reconnaissance. Damn it, why hadn't she thought of him using Floo powder out?

Well, there was nothing more she could do right now. Without saying goodbye Narcissa mechanically got to her feet and sprinkled the emerald powder into the flames.

"Number 13, Grimmauld Place!"

They whipped her into the kitchen fireplace and disgorged her onto her knees on the hard stone floor. Hacking out a cough, she struggled up.

"What the hell happened back there?"

Moody had been waiting for her. She bared her teeth at him, too tired to deal with him.

"Lucius escaped," she said coldly. "But don't worry. There's nowhere he can hide where he'll be safe from me."

Leaving him gaping at her retreating back, Narcissa swept up to bed.


End file.
